Letters: Mayor’s intransigence won’t make Flagler Shore right

The Olympic torch at PyeongChang is a metaphor for America, letter-writer says. (David J. Phillip/Getty Images)

Mayor’s intransigence

won’t make project right

West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio cherry-picks her comments and ignores the many resident voices who are opposed to her thinking. I would like to know how she can quantify her quote about “increased property values” directly linked to a Flagler Shore project.

Traffic congestion at the intersection of the middle bridge is bad enough and made worse by the closure of the northbound lanes, an issue she ignores. Furthermore, as the city continues its development push, how can the mayor make the statement that she knows “with absolute certainty that Flagler Drive was overbuilt”? That sounds very subjective.

To my observation, I found that closing those lanes was an inconvenience and that the space that was created was underutilized.

There was one positive outcome, however, and that was that the landscaping along the designated route was finally attended to after years of neglect by the city.

The mayor may declare the Flagler Shore project a success and firmly stand by it, but that doesn’t make her right.

I was taught that “action speaks louder than words.” Perhaps banning assault weapons won’t stop all killing but it is something tangible and measurable as opposed to useless talk without action.

How is it we can ban smoking, which harms mainly the smoker, but we cannot ban assault weapons that never harm the killer?

Perhaps Siebold should read the adjacent column by a high school junior (“America’s children are screaming”) and engage her in a “solution-based discourse” before condemning those who seek action.

ROBERT KUECHENBERG, BOYNTON BEACH

That he had the gun

was biggest error of all

I’m sure by now that all those who were elected to represent us have hoped the citizenry has fallen prey to their usual limited attention span, but guess what? Not this time.

All the errors made prior to the Stoneman Douglas massacre by the FBI, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Broward’s call-in helpline and teacher-student awareness notwithstanding, the major and only condition that would have avoided this horror is the inability to purchase any and all assault or semi-automatic weapons.

You know the only reason to have such a weapon is to kill as many people at one time as you can — great for the military, not for any civilian, no matter the age or mental status.

You are being held ransom in the clutches of the NRA, which cares not a damn for the hundreds of lives lost, shot by AK-47s or AR-15 or Uzis or called by any other name. A handgun or hunting rifle could never have caused the horrific scenario that the AR-15 did, so don’t confuse the issue by claiming that gun reformers seek to take away all guns. Not true.

Ban all assault and semi-automatic and automatic weapons and their magazines. This time, the public will not forget.

Not advocating for or against arming teachers, but schools are already gun-free zones, which is one reason they are an attractive target. When one looks at mass shootings, soft targets such as schools, churches, Pulse nightclub, San Bernardino, etc., are popular.

One doesn’t see too many police stations or gun ranges targeted, other than in movies. I think we know why.

Also, courtrooms are gun-free zones, with the exception of authorized armed people whose job is to protect all of the occupants of said premises. As the author noted, the answer is not simple and will probably be a combination of the ideas he referenced and others.

With so many people, “mentally ill” or not, looking for their 15 minutes of exposure, it will be hard to completely eliminate this problem. It is clear though that we must quickly begin to take steps to protect our schoolchildren, at least — as well as we protect judges and other dignitaries.

FRANCIS BROUSSEAU, WELLINGTON

American children

deserve better legacy

As we passed the torch for the XXIII Winter Olympic Games, I thought of an analogy of passing down a civilization to the next generation. But what are we passing down in the United States?

A large population of civilians with guns, including military-style assault rifles, being used to terrorize, traumatize and murder our young people at concerts, schools, churches and everywhere, with the excuse that we need to keep our rights. We can and must do better.

We are handing them a national debt that is $20 trillion and giving tax cuts to businesses when corporate profits are high, so the adults can have more money. We can and must do better. Finally, and most irreversibly, we are driving a massive change in our global climate that not only affects our youth but the youth of the world, so we can support the fossil-fuel industry that is working to undermine the future of clean energy technologies, and lead us down a cataclysmic crevasse of unstable weather costing us billions that will get worse. We can and must do better. Our torch is dim and in its darkness goes our souls. The children of our great nation deserve better.